Ημερομηνία

DOI

Λέξη-κλειδί

Επιτομή

The high level of the non-revenue water (NRW: water not generating revenues) is a well-acknowledged problem water utilities are straggling with in areas facing water scarcity. High NRW values jeopardize the sustainability of water utilities, especially in cases, where these values exceed 50 % of the System Input Volume. WATERLOSS project developed a Decision Support System to help water utility managers design the most effective/efficient NRW reduction strategy. The project's first step was to evaluate the performance of the water distribution systems selected as case studies. The paper presents the respective results of eight cases from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France and Spain, based on a modified International Water Association Water Balance adapted to the water pricing practices met across the Mediterranean (high Fixed Charge included in the water tariffs). The results revealed that although almost all cases experience high NRW levels, the high Fixed Charge reduces the actual revenue losses, thus providing a perfect excuse to the managers of the local water utilities do almost nothing to address the actual extent of the NRW problem in their systems.

The need for a common international terminology is growing the last few years regarding the performance evaluation of urban water distribution systems, due to the wide diversity of definitions used across the word (even ...

In the E.U. following the old 5th Environmental Action Program (EAP) of 1994 and the new 6th EAP for the sustainable development in 2001, we confront the strategic management problem of aquatic resources at the regional ...

Water scarcity, high water demand due to increasing urbanization and the ongoing liberalization of the water and energy markets makes water utilities look into innovative ways to approach consumers, to offer attractive ...